James Kirkup is The Telegraph's Executive Editor (Politics). He was previously the Telegraph's Political Editor and has worked at Westminster since 2001.

Labour's being nice to the plotters

Ah, I love the smell of plotting in the morning. One of the intriguing aspects of the latest attempted assassination attempt against the PM is the way No 10 has been responding to the plotters. Privately, the fury is everything you'd expect. But the public stance is almost placid. In essence, the message is: lay off Siobhan McDonagh and the rest.

So why so cautious this time? Partly, the lesson of the Miliband insurrection has been learned: attacking someone can actually boost their credibility. By attempting to ignore Miss McDonagh and friends, No 10 hopes to make them look like a marginal group of non-entities.

But there may be other forces at work here too. Miss McDonagh and friends are not, in truth, as isolated as they look. They do have backers in Government, ministers who share their analysis of Mr Brown. True, those ministers remain unwilling to speak out in public. But some have "let it be known" that any attempt to vilify the rebels will force them to reconsider that stance. Some claim they are ready to resign if Team Brown goes in hard against Miss McDonagh et al.

Yes, the latest flurry of excitement may be passing, but the mood inside the Labour Party remains potentially explosive. One wrong move by No 10 could be a spark to the fuse.